12th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL HACKATHON FOR SOCIAL GOOD

April 25 to 28, 2024

We are excited to announce the 12th Annual NYUAD International Hackathon for Social Good which will focus on Quantum Computing (QC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) supporting Quantum Computing (QC).

1st Place & Audience Award

QGasBusters | كاشف الغاز (Team 20)

QGasBusters protects critical infrastructure by instantly detecting pipeline anomalies, and optimally allocating emergency resources using Quantum Sensing & Machine Learning.

Students

  • Mateo Stipanicic, Junior, Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
  • Sarah Marya Mitiche, Masters, University of Essex, UK
  • Federico Fuidio, Senior, Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
  • Mehak Mehak, Masters, Raman Research Institute, India
  • Rustem Khassanov, NYUAD, UAE
  • Tamara Hamad, Sophomore, Ajman University, UAE

Mentors

  • Alberto Marchisio, Postdoctoral researcher, NYUAD, UAE
  • Elias Xaver Huber, Yenching Scholar, Peking University, Switzerland
  • Priya Aswani, Independent Consultant, UAE

“Hackathons: where teamwork fuels innovation toward achieving SDG goals” ~ Tamara M. T Hamad

“Brilliant midns joining forces to solve problems and shape the future of quantum computing is an invaluable experience” ~ Alberto Marchisio

2nd Place & SDG Award

QMarjan | كمرجان (Team 17)

QMarjan helps identify optimal spots to achieve the highest coral restoration with limited resources.

Students

  • Agustín Panizza, Senior, Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
  • Corey Ferrier, MIT, USA
  • Obada Abdallat, Junior, Applied Science Private University, Jordan
  • Sojood Jamoos, Senior, An-Najah National University, Palestine
  • Reem Abu Hasna, Senior, Ajman University, UAE
  • Basil Ahmed Qureshi, NYUAD, UAE
  • Aknur Kassym, NYUAD, UAE
  • Md Hasibur Rahman, NYUAD, UAE

Mentors

  • Mohammed Alkhanafseh, Assistant Professor in Computer Science (Cyber Security), Birzeit University, Palestine
  • Sama Kanbour, GE Aerospace, USA
  • Hayk Sargsyan, Senior Software Engineer, TII

“It was an enlightening experience! I loved working with ambitious like-minded people from around the world to contribute to the solution of global problems.” ~ Aknur Kassym

“In 3 days, the team worked together to identify a problem worth solving they felt personally passionate about, and had a chance to learn, apply and teach one another new tools and frameworks, from Quantum, ML, data visualization, storytelling, and business strategy, allowing them to build and practice new skills.” ~ Sama Kanbour

3rd Place

aQua | نقاء (Team 15)

Using Quantum Simulations to Identify how to remove harmful PFAS molecules from water supplies to make them drinkable

Students

  • Yahia Abdeldjalil Benyahia, Junior, Bouira University, Algeria
  • Ameera Saeed, Junior, Ajman University, UAE
  • Sama Hassane
  • Andrew Juang, Junior, Boston University, USA
  • Mohammad Aker, Senior, An-Najah National University, Palestine
  • Yassine Abbahaddou, PhD Student, Ecole Polytechnique | Visiting scholar, New York University, USA
  • Ines Manel Boumazouza, Senior, Higher national School of computer science ESI, Algeria

Mentors

  • Mohammad Aamir Sohail, Ph.D. Student, University of Michigan, USA
  • Mamoun Abu Helou, Dr./ Head of Data Science Department, Al-Istiqlal University, Palestine
  • Omar Al – Khazali, Student, American University of Sharjah, UAE
  • Lalit Pradhan, PhD, Applied Scientist – NLP, Core42

“An international collaboration between brilliant young minds that want to help people in the most impactful way” ~ Omar Al Khazali